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(August 08, 2018) Humans and wildlife live in close confines, leading to negative outcomes. Ongoing voluntary relocation of people from the sanctuary is a clear win-win solution for both.Rughmini and family are finally ‘out of the woods’. Leaving Chettiyalathur that was home for decades is not easy, but the compulsions had been too many. Elephant visits for one, posing danger to human life besides the crop loss, lack of employment opportunities, the long trek for medical exigencies, distance to the ne...

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(August 06, 2018) Wonders can happen when youth join hands for conservation. The Green Army in namma Bengaluru is one such example that inspires.Who hasn't in their childhood observed and marveled at ants walking in a line or bees collecting nectar from the flowers?As Sir David Attenborough once said, "I don't know any child that is not fascinated with the natural world, but some children become fascinated by iPads or railway engines as they grow up." And then he added, "If you lose your interest in the natural w...

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(August 03, 2018) ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳ ಮಾಯಾಲೋಕದಿಂದ ಪೂರ್ವ ಘಟ್ಟಗಳ ಬಂಡೆಗಾಡುಗಳವರೆಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಪಯಣ..ಗತಿಸಿಹೋದ ಘಟನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮೆಲಕು ಹಾಕುತ್ತ..ಸತೀಶ ಗಣೇಶ ನಾಗಠಾಣ      ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯು ಸುಂದರವಾದ ವಿಸ್ಮಯಗಳನ್ನು ತನ್ನ ಒಡಲೊಳಗೆ ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಅದೇಷ್ಟೋ ಘಟನೆಗಳು ನನ್ನ ಪಯಣದ ಕಥಾಹಂದರ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಆವರಿಸಿದೆ ಎಂದರೇ ಅದು ಒಂದು ಕೂತುಹಲ ಭರಿತವಾದ ಮತ್ತು ರೋಮಾಂಚನಗೊಳಿಸುವಂತಹ ಸಹ್ಯಾದ್ರಿ ಪರ್ವತ ಶ್ರೇಣಿಗಳ ಮಾಯಾಲೋಕವೆಂದು ಹೇಳಲು ನನಗೆ ಸೂಕ್ತವೆನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.ಗೋದಾವರಿ ನದಿ ತೀರದ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಕುಳಿತಿರುವ ದೃಶ್ಯ , ಪೋಲಾವರಂ, ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶ.ಪರಿಸರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನನಗೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕಾಳಜಿ, ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮರಾ ಹಿಡಿದು ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ಮರ,...

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(July 31, 2018) A grassland patch set afire often sees animals caught unawares. Read about a star tortoise that is rudely woken from its slumber.One way to make ecological observations in the forest is by walking transect lines – fixed paths in a forest that an observer walks during a survey, recording direct sightings of animals along with the radial distance of sighting and the azimuth bearing. These transects can also be used to record some other ecological factors. Several of our volunteers ...

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(July 31, 2018) On International Rangers’ Day, we salute the courage and commitment of forest staff. Here is an example of one such young forest officer working in the Chikmagalur forest range in Karnataka.Shilpa S L, RFO of Chikmagalur forest range.In just over a month, she has booked six cases of forest offences and arrested more than 20 offenders. The cases range from porcupine hunting to timber logging to an illegal car rally inside the forest.“Whoever is involved in illegal work, whether i...

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(July 27, 2018) WCS India staff hand-hold tribals who have moved to relocation centres and help them with livelihood, education and medical support.The 30-odd women gathered protest in one voice to the news that Govindappa will soon be leaving them. Lokesh from WCS India has just announced to the gathering that his colleague’s services will be needed at the new tribal relocation centre in Masthigudi. He placates them saying that Govindappa will be with them for two days in a week. They are not so assured ...

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(July 26, 2018) MEET OUR STAFF: KIRAN YADAVOne morning in the dry deciduous forests of Bandipur, WCS India Program Research Assistant Kiran Yadav and his colleague left the camp to check the installed camera-traps, and collect data from these. It was around 9 a.m. when they finished retrieving data from two camera points. (Cameras are set up in various parts of the jungle to sense and click images of animals that pass by.) The day turned out to be a bumper one in terms of sightings.The two of them sighted a pac...

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(July 24, 2018) Fieldwork of collecting leopard scat in Akole, Ahmednagar district comes with job hazards of a different kind... A farmer who worked on our project recounts some hilarious stories from the time he participated in a project with leopard biologist Dr. Vidya AthreyaIt was the height of summer when we began collecting leopard scats. I thought we would wander around the fields and pick up whatever we found, but Vidya Athreya had different ideas and she was very particular about them. There was no way...

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(July 21, 2018) When good intentions of the government are stymied by minor procedural issuesReticent Chandramathi is a gram panchayat member in Kerwase, Karkala taluk where her family is now settled. Coconut and arecanut trees surround the house and fetch the family a good revenue. More importantly, all her six sons have been educated after the move from Malejodi settlement in Belthangadi range of the Kudremukh National Park.Kudremukh Landscape © Kiran Yadav"For any emergency we had to walk 6-8 kms from w...

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(July 20, 2018) Sheer willpower and a splash of technology is helping forest officials make their way through this difficult landscape.It's 3.58 pm on a humid Tuesday in the forest when Jagdish Rana hears a rustle in the bushes. He signals to his team and they quietly take cover as silently as possible. They see a poacher emerge out of the bushes holding the head of a spotted deer walking away with confidence. He signals once again to his team and they rush out. The startled poacher makes a dash to escape but i...

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